Table Of Contents
The Details
| Rating | 91 |
| Style |
BourbonRye American Whiskey Whiskey |
| Produced In |
Kentucky United States |
| ABV | 56.5% |
| Availability | Limited |
| Price | $44.99 |
| Reviewed By | |
| Review Updated | 2024-09-05 |
Knob Creek Bourbon x Rye Blended Straight Whiskeys Review
Bourbon-rye hybrids — lovingly called “bouryes” by some — are nothing terribly new in today’s whiskey game. Brands like High West and Proof and Wood have been churning out a variety of such blends for years, often sourcing and marrying whiskey from multiple distilleries in the process.
So while Knob Creek’s new Bourbon x Rye isn’t categorically groundbreaking, the release is notable in a few ways. For starters, it features all Knob Creek distillate, with transparent age statements and components:
- 30 percent 9 Year Old Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- 70 percent 7 Year Old Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey
So far, that’s nothing an enterprising home mixologist couldn’t accomplish themselves. Herein lies the (slight) twist: Purchased separately, those Knob Creek components are going to come in at 100 proof each. But Knob Creek Bourbon x Rye clocks in at a sturdy 113 proof. For around $45 — a $5-$10 jump up from standard Knob Creek Bourbon or Rye — the new blend adds 13 more proof points.
That’s likely appealing to whiskey fans keen for higher-proof offerings and bar programs looking for cocktail ingredients that won’t break the balance sheet. And a mix of bourbon and rye could open up an easy “best of both worlds” scenario in classic cocktails; this is simply screaming to be mixed into an Old Fashioned.
A number of other bouryes on the market are highly allocated (and highly collectible) releases, the sort of thing that’s more commonly sipped neat than included in a mixed drink. And while the 2024 release is marketed as “limited,” brand reps tell us that if Bourbon x Rye proves popular, it could become a more permanent edition to the lineup.
Let’s dive in and see whether that’s something we should look forward to.
Knob Creek Bourbon x Rye Blended Straight Whiskeys: Stats and Availability
Technically, Knob Creek Bourbon x Rye is a limited release, though one that shouldn’t be that tricky to find. It’s available nationwide at an MSRP of around $45; I wouldn’t expect to see it going for much of a premium above that. And if — again, that’s a big if — it becomes a permanent fixture in Knob Creek’s portfolio, given parent company Jim Beam’s capacity, this is a bottle that will likely never stay off shelves for long.
Knob Creek Bourbon x Rye Blended Straight Whiskeys Review
As with all of VinePair’s whiskey reviews, this was tasted in a Glencairn glass and rested for at least five minutes.
Nose
Spice and caramel and oak, oh my! (Sorry, I had to.) This blend has some immediate pop to it on the nose. Robust rye spice — grated cinnamon and nutmeg, along with baked clove — leads, and it’s followed oh-so-closely by some unmistakable bourbon sweetness in the form of dark pan caramel. With the relatively high amount of rye (70 percent), I wondered if this would be all spice on the nose. However, there’s plenty of bourbon to be smelled here, which buoys the already sweet-leaning characteristics of Knob Creek’s Kentucky-style (aka high corn) rye.
Baked fruit is up next, predominantly roasted skin-on apples and spiced raspberry compote. Those are welcome, semi-sweet/semi-tart elements that help bridge any gaps among the trifecta of wood sugar, baking spice, and charred oak. (And make no mistake, there’s oak aplenty, with the final blend nosing closer to a nine-year bourbon than a slightly younger rye.)
At the very end of a deep sniff comes some classic Beam nuts (in this case of the candied and heavily roasted variety). I’m not sure the nose here is truly greater than the sum of its parts, but it’s almost certainly just as good.
Taste
The palate starts much brighter than the nose, with fruit — once again, baked apples and raspberries — present from the first sip. Quick bursts of cracked pepper and freshly expressed mint follow. There’s a brief moment around the second taste where it seems like the harmony between bourbon and rye could break, with potential tension between fruit and pepper spice. My worry is fleeting, however. Another sip, and everything seems to be back on track, though flavors lean spicy from here on out.
Sweetness builds toward the midpalate like maple candy — a bit sticky, earthy, and wood-forward. (Having already tried this in a couple cocktails, I appreciated the bit of funk this sweet midpalate brought.)
Things don’t change all that much after the midpalate. Sweet cooked apple remains, along with classic vanilla, caramel, and oak. More nuttiness comes into the fray, in this case toasted, candied pecans. Compared to the nose, the overall palate is a bit spicier and a little less nutty. One assumes that’s the 70 percent rye finally doing the talking.
The mouthfeel is plenty thick, and combined with that 113 proof, Bourbon x Rye proves flavorful across the full palate.
Finish
Knob Creek’s Bourbon x Rye doesn’t sport a terribly long finish, but it’s an appropriate decrescendo in the grand scheme of things. Maple candy gradually fades and tannins linger, along with enough black pepper to make this feel like the final act of a well-aged rye.
Knob Creek Bourbon x Rye Blended Straight Whiskeys Rating
91/100
Recap
Knob Creek Bourbon x Rye is…quite good! It accomplishes some lovely flavor gymnastics balancing between rye spice and bourbon’s sweetness. While it’s not a massive step up in taste from each individual component, given the significant bump in proof, one could argue Bourbon x Rye is decidedly more robust. In addition to being plenty enjoyable neat, I expect this might find a welcome home on many backbars as a versatile cocktail ingredient, answering the age old “bourbon or rye?” question in one affordable bottle.
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